At last, Mittens finds perfect fit

Ad is foster cat's meow to being adopted into a peaceful home

Leigh Hornbec, Times Union

By Leigh Hornbeck

Published 11:20 pm, Friday, October 25, 2013

Mary Howard, background, the previous owner of Mittens, and David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens try to coax the cat out from under a table at Valcek's home on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Watervliet, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Mary Howard, background, the previous owner of Mittens, and David...

Mary Howard, the previous owner of Mittens talks about her search for a new home for the cat during an interview at the home of David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Watervliet, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Mary Howard, the previous owner of Mittens talks about her search...

David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens, sits in his home with his cat on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Watervliet, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens, sits in his home with his...

Mittens inside the home of David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Watervliet, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Mittens inside the home of David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens...

David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens, talks about the first few days when the cat was in his house during an interview at Valcek's home on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Watervliet, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens, talks about the first few...

David Valcek, the new owner of Mittens, sits in his home with his cat on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Watervliet, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Mary Howard knew the future looked bleak for her latest foster cat. Mittens was 5, not a highly adoptable kitten, and she had issues — a skin condition, a tendency to miss the litter box and a fearful nature that was the result of life in an unfit home. Howard used the classifieds successfully in the past to place foster cats. She wrote the ad in Mittens' voice. On Aug. 6, between the Family Circus cartoon and ads for miniature schnauzers, pugs and tiny brown Yorkie Poos, Mittens admitted to her special needs in bold typeface.

"My foster Mom has four cats so she can't keep me although she loves me."

Howard is known as the cat rescue lady around the office at CAP COM Federal Credit Union. She has four of her own, Mario, Becca, Satin and Patch, and fosters a steady stream of kittens for the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society. Howard is also a single mother raising two teenage boys. She takes some chiding from family and friends who tell her, "You can't save them all, Mary." But Howard has deep faith and knows what it feels like to be unwanted, down and out.

"As someone who has suffered with depression, helping them become rehabilitated helps rehabilitate me," she said.

Mittens had belonged to one of Howard's co-workers, who told her about the cat's problems. There also were two other female cats in Mittens' house who terrorized her.

Howard worried about the cat. When her co-worker was about to leave his job, she offered to take Mittens. She hoped love and affection was all the cat needed.

"I don't get along with other cats, they scare me. I would love a nice quiet home with no other animals or kids."

Howard kept Mittens confined to her bedroom and bathroom at her home in Watervliet so the other cats in the house wouldn't bother her. Slowly, the cat warmed up to her new surroundings and allowed Howard to pet and cuddle her. Up close, Howard saw the tiger cat with the snow-white belly and feet. Mittens had a tuft of hair and one long whisker growing out of the tip of her nose. But she was tormented by itchiness. She groomed away the hair at the base of her tail and on her stomach. Howard and her regular veterinarian thought it was behavioral and would pass once the cat settled into a loving home, but it didn't. Howard took Mittens to a different vet for a second opinion where the cat was diagnosed with a flea allergy. She didn't have fleas, but must have had a flea bite her at one point, causing a severe allergic reaction that didn't go away on its own, the vet said. A blood test also revealed Mittens had Bartonellosis — cat scratch fever. Howard treated her with antibiotic steroid injections and suddenly Mittens was a different cat. Finally, she slept.

"I need an owner who has tons of patience and years of experience with cats and can afford the expenses that come with owning an animal."

Howard worried she would never find the right home for Mittens. For four months, the cat lived in her bathroom and bedroom. Howard asked for a sign from her mother, Patricia Howard, who died in 2009. In the past, the signs always had to do with animals. A woman who took one of Howard's foster cats was named Patricia. The man who responded to Howard's ad in the paper shares a name with Howard's father, David.

David Valcek lives alone in an apartment in Watervliet, decorated with pictures of animals. He has a reserved manner, a quiet voice, and like Howard, a deep faith. Since retiring in 2001 after a 30-year career in social services, he devotes most of his time to volunteer activities through his church. He had a spot for Mittens' perch in his enclosed porch and he was accustomed to dealing with high-maintenance kitties. A cat named Wilma was his companion for more than 15 years. She died in March 2012. She also avoided the litter box from time to time.

After mourning Wilma for a year, Valcek was preparing to adopt another adult cat when he saw the classified ad from Mittens. When Howard invited him to visit her home, Mittens allowed Valcek to pet her, something she rarely allowed with strangers. As a condition of the adoption, he wrote a check for $100 to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society and took Mittens home along with blankets that held Howard's scent.

At first she hid under the bed in Valcek's spare room, then started sleeping at the foot of his bed. Now, she sleeps on the pillow next to his head. During the day she sits on her perch and watches birds come and go. Her fur is thick and fluffy. With coaxing, she will even greet strangers.

Howard gave Mittens her first few doses of medicine at Valcek's apartment and it gave her a chance to see the cat's progress. She's in a place that's hers, Howard said, where she gets the attention she deserves. The world might be full of strays and unwanted pets, but one cat with issues found the happy ending she took to the classifieds to find.

"I know my special requests for a forever home seem like a lot, but I have been granted a second chance at having a happy life and I want to get on with it already! It's simple. I want what we all want, just to be loved for our remaining days."